Beyond sweeping a perfect 10 out of the month’s Top 10 comic books, DC’s “New 52” titles are also starting to show first signs of stabilization in January. The average “New 52” title dropped 7.4% in sales, down from 17.4% in December and 19.6% in November.

This gives reason to be cautiously optimistic on the longer-term prospects of DC’s relaunched line. The trend should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as DC made a number of changes to its various retailer incentives in January that may be affecting sales one way or another. On Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight, Superman and Aquaman, the returnability incentive was replaced with 1:25 variant-cover incentives. Batwoman, Green Lantern: New Guardians and Swamp Thing, which were promoted with a special-discount incentive from September through December, also switched to 1:25 variant-cover incentives in January. Finally, the threshold retailers were required to meet in January to qualify for returnability on the 37 titles that weren’t promoted through variant-cover or discount incentives changed from 125% of retailers’ May 2011 orders to 100% of November 2011 orders.

With this in mind, let’s wait for the February figures to see if the trend holds when incentives are equal from one month to the next.

The “New 52” titles with the best issue #5 changes are Batman (+1.0%), Aquaman (+0.2%) and Detective Comics (-0.0%). The titles with the largest month-to-month drops are Blackhawks (-18.9%), Firestorm (-16.7%) and Hawkman and Men of War (-15.2% each). Overall, the percentage changes again tend to favor the better-selling of the “New 52” books. The number of “New 52” titles selling below the 20K mark increases to 10 in January, including the six that have been cancelled as well as Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Voodoo and I, Vampire. Nine more “New 52” titles sold between 20 and 25K.

For Vertigo, it’s a particularly bad month. Viewed over the 107 months we have consistent data on, January 2012 brought both the lowest total unit sales and the lowest total dollar sales for the imprint. The previous low point was November 2003, with estimated total Vertigo comic-book sales of 108,050 in units and $297,858. In January 2012, it’s a total of 89,957 units and $268,971, respectively.

And that’s despite the fact that there were only six Vertigo titles on sale in November 2003 versus nine in January 2012. Back then, the average Vertigo comic book sold 18,008 units; now, it’s 9,995 — the sixth-lowest figure recorded for Vertigo in the last 107 months. The imprint has several new titles coming up, but considering that current Vertigo series by established and acclaimed creators like Jeff Lemire, Mike Allred, Mike Carey, Brian Wood and Jason Aaron all sell below — well below, in some cases — the 10K mark and the latest Azzarello/Risso vehicle is struggling to crack 15K, raising those numbers in a more permanent fashion looks like a challenge.

Finally, in somewhat related news, the results of a Nielsen survey on the “New 52” audience ordered by DC Comics were recently released. According to the survey, 95% of the initial “New 52” customers were existing or “lapsed” comics fans, 93% were male and 98% were aged 18 and up. In other words, for all the promotional efforts and lip service paid by DC to the notion of reaching “new” readers, it pretty clearly did not happen. Or, as Dark Horse Comics publisher Mike Richardson recently told comics retailers, “Superheroes may pay the bills for now, but they aren’t bringing in new customers.” This isn’t news, per se, to anyone who’s been paying attention, but the survey makes it as official as it’s going to get. And the degree of the failure is still unexpectedly dire.

As usual, please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com‘s estimates can be found here.

And, once again, two procedural notes on the “New 52.”

One: The fact that 37 of the “New 52” titles below are listed with higher numbers than over at ICv2.com is not an error. It’s because Diamond only reported 90% of their sales on the chart, to compensate for the fact that they were made returnable by DC if retailers met a specific quota. Since Diamond’s way of accounting for the incentive seems fairly arbitrary, I’ve re-added the missing 10% for those books to get a more accurate picture. Just keep in mind that those numbers probably wouldn’t have been as high if retailers weren’t required to meet a certain threshold to qualify for returnability. It’s just one more gimmick that publishers use. (As another result of this, don’t be surprised if the chart positions are all over the place, by the way.)

Two: Of the 15 remaining “New 52” books, Batman, Justice League, Action Comics, Green Lantern and Flash have been promoted with multiple variant-cover editions, including 1:200 ones, that are likely to have boosted sales, as well. Special discounts, which also required retailers to meet a certain unit threshold, apply to Stormwatch, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman. Finally, as of January 2012, Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight, Superman, Aquaman, Batwoman, Green Lantern: New Guardians and Swamp Thing were also promoted with variant editions in lieu of discounts or a returnability scheme. Yes, it’s getting complicated. I’ll just mention those here, so keep in mind that these promotional initiatives are likely to have affected the numbers of those books. Whether they affected them more than the thresholds for returnability affected the other titles, or less so, we have no way of knowing.

It looks like Justice League is levelling out — which would be extremely good news for DC. Aside from the changes in the publisher’s incentive programs in January that may be distorting the trends this month, there’s also the fact that superstar artist Jim Lee is taking a breather with issues #7 and #8, though, so it’s probably too soon yet to count any chickens.

The “Combo Pack” edition, including a download code for the digital edition for an extra dollar, sold 6,094 units in January, which are included in the figure above. Also, issue #4 sold another 3,026 copies, and a fifth printing of #1 shifted 5,541.
—–

The second-best-selling “New 52” also performs very well in January, and not far below Justice League. The “Combo Pack” edition sold 4,653 units here, and Batman #4 — the third and final “New 52” title that made the chart again in January — shifted another 2,829 units.
—–

Detective Comics was one of four “New 52” titles that were no longer returnable in January, but were promoted with 1:25 variant-cover editions instead. This may have affected sales either way or not at all, but we won’t really get a clue until the February numbers come in, at least. For now, the book is holding level and continues to be one of the most solid relaunch titles.

Batman and Robin is the first of the 37 “New 52” titles that continued to be returnable in January. And if you add the missing 10% of sales that Diamond subtracts for returnability, the book climbs past Flash. The numbers seem to be bottoming out.
—–

The two Green Lantern spin-off series appear to be settling down where they left off before the relaunch, though Green Lantern Corps probably hasn’t found its level yet. New Guardians was one of the three titles that switched from the special-discount promotion to a 1:25 variant-cover promotion in January. Maybe that’s why the drop is a little bit smoother there.
—–

The second-best-selling Vertigo title hasn’t been as stable as it used to be for the last couple of months.
—–

137 - MEN OF WAR
09/2011: Men of War #1 -- 37,488
10/2011: Men of War #2 -- 31,446 (-16.1%)
11/2011: Men of War #3 -- 23,770 (-24.4%)
12/2011: Men of War #4 -- 16,641 (-30.0%)
01/2012: Men of War #5 -- 14,110 (-15.2%)

And another comic based on a video game. As of May 2012, this is the only serial adaptation of a licensed TV or game franchise. Given the performance of those books, which look suspiciously like hangovers from the defunct WildStorm imprint, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them petering out or move completely to the digital realm.

Another adaptation, End of Nations #3, also shipped in January, but failed to make the chart. As always, for the purposes of the average-sales statistics below, I’m assuming it sold as many units as the No. 300 title on the chart, which was 2,606 in December.
—–

The numbers above are estimates for comic-book sales in the North American direct market, as calculated by ICv2.com according to the chart and index information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors.

ICv2.com‘s estimates are somewhat lower than the actual numbers, but they are consistent from month to month, so the trends they show are fairly accurate. Since it’s a “month-to-month” column, the comments, unless otherwise noted, are on the most recent month.

Bear in mind that the figures measure sales to retailers, not customers. Also, these numbers do not include sales to bookstores, newsstands, other mass-market retail chains or the United Kingdom. Re-orders are included, so long as they either reached stores in a book’s initial calendar month of release or were strong enough to make the chart again in a subsequent month.

If additional copies of an issue did appear on the chart after a book’s initial calendar month of release, you can see the total number of copies sold in parenthesis behind those issues (e.g. “[36,599]”). Should more than one issue have shipped in a month which is relevant for one of the long-term comparisons, the average between them will be used.

Titles released under the Johnny DC imprint and magazines, such as Mad, mostly sell through channels other than the direct market, so direct-market sales don’t tell us much about their performance. For most Vertigo titles, collection sales tend to be a significant factor, so the numbers for those books should be taken with a grain of salt as well. To learn (a little) more about Vertigo’s collection sales, go right here.

** Two asterisks after a given month in the average charts mean that one or more periodical release did not make the Top 300 chart in that month. In those cases, it’s assumed that said releases sold as many units as the No. 300 comic on the chart for that month for the purposes of the chart, although its actual sales are likely to be less than that.

For a more lyrical approach to discussing sales figures that covers all the essentials in a more condensed, less tedious fashion, finally, go right here.

While nothing to write home about, I don’t know if I’d call LSH: Secret Origin a “disaster”, it’s only got two issues left and it’s still selling above a lot of other DC material. For a tertiary Legion title, that’s not awful.

Hurray for DC lot of the titled I read are doing good!People read Animal & Swampthing it is very different and entertaining. Maybe Marvel management could read a few of these titles and learn a thing or two….or go with Avengers vs Xmen (Yaaawnn…zzz).

Well, i must say that (in my store) interest in DCs top titles doesn’t seem to waning one bit. However, the drops on the lesser properties is quite steep, even with the returnability, I’ve had to cull most of my orders.
All in all, i think the DC re-boot has been wonderful for their line but attention must be paid to the lesser selling titles or else DC will only have a handful of titles performing well (of which about 7-8 of them are tied to Batman).

I think it’ll take longer than that for any negative effects to come through. Granted that Williams’ art is the main selling point on this book, it’s still a continuation of the same storyline, there’s the usual factors of customer inertia, and judged on its own merits, the art on issue #6 is perfectly fine. I don’t expect a sudden rush to the exit.

There is no book starring Terrill. Did you not read what I wrote? They wasted their chance by having a completely new character star in the book. Just like they did with The NEW Atom – hes dead now isn’t he?

Let’s be real, Ray Terrill or no, the book was never gonna sell. Jamal Igle’s a fine artist, but he doesn’t draw fans in. And Palmiotti and Gray are among the creators whose work I enjoy the least. And they definitely don’t boost sales on a book.

I always love reading these articles. However, there is one comparison that I wish was being made which is not being made. I’d like to see how a current issue compares to the previous incarnation at the same issue number.

For example, JLA#5 from 2006 sold 132,460 copies, whereas the current Justice League #5 sold 144,670 copies. That’s an improvement of 9%, which is significant, but not as impressive as the quoted percentages “6 months: +232.2%, 1 year : +207.2%, 2 years : +132.4%”. Because when I look at +232.2%, I think “Wow, the new DC is really revitalizing sales.” But then, when I see, “Oh that’s only 9% over the last JLA#5,” I realize it’s not necessarily “the new DC” but just the idea of “Hey let’s start over with a new #1 issue with a popular creative team” that’s improved sales.

“There is no book starring Terrill. Did you not read what I wrote? They wasted their chance by having a completely new character star in the book. Just like they did with The NEW Atom – hes dead now isn’t he?”

But there have been books featuring Terrill, including the short-lived Christoper Priest/Howard Porter title, as well as the various Freedom Fighter books DC has attempted in the last five years. The last Freedom Fighters series was canceled with issue 8 last spring…where were all the Terrill fans for that book?

I understand everyone has his or her favorites. But if you honestly think that the new Ray book would sell even five more copies because it starred Terrill, you’re most likely mistaken.

Your not talking about his monthly from 15 YEARS AGO are you? That lasted 28 issues. Cause by todays standards, that would of been a bona fide hit! Now Priest AND Terrill on the mini would of been Amazing! … But then again, I think I’m the only one who loved Priest’s JL Task Force (also featuring Terrill)… And yes, that includes Triumph! haha…

It’s not completely outside the realm of possibility that if JLA keeps dropping 5k a month and BATMAN keeps rising 2k a month, the latter might actually rise above the former.

I think the most interesting open question about the new 52 is (to me, obviously) whether they’re still going to try to stick to the magic 52 number when even more titles will get cancelled. What’s going to be replacing Firestorm, Captain Atom, I Vampire and that crowd. That’s what I want to know. Anything I might actually want to read?

Good information, glad to see the three titles I enjoy are doing well enough not to get cancelled, Batman, Animal Man and Swamp Thing. In my view the hardest decision about the new 52 is which ones to buy and read, I feel like a kid in a candy store. I can’t possibly buy them all, less I end up broke so I have had to pick and chose titles. I have not collected comics since I was a child, its been at least 16 years since I have read any comics so picking titles to follow continually was not as clear cut as it was for many people. So in a way I think DC is really competeing with themselves. Having to limit my choices comes down to having the available funds. I am really excited about the new 52.

Do you remember the action movies in the 90s? There was a Rambo – as leading character (usually acted by Stallone himself, or by Schwarzenegger) forced to fight against innumerous enemies: any other man would have been doomed, but our hero, with his guns, muscles, fight techniques and (last but not least) brain, was always able to find a way out. “Grifter” has the same storyboard, it is the exact translation of those movies in the comic book language: no matter how many enemies he has to face and how complicated their plans are, you can be sure Grifter will find a solution to all his problems. The stories are easy but cleverly written, and the drawings are simply explosive. It is definitely one of the best DC comics right now, so I can’t understand why it doesn’t sell: it should be at the top of the list of every comic book lover.